Sorry about the acronym Rusty, normally I hate them ‘cos I don’t know what half of them mean myself

I have to admit when I wrote that I was kind of angry/frustrated and was thinking it might just flush someone out into saying what actually goes on. One reflection that’s silly and never going to happen.

The reason for the frustration is simply that I have for some time been planning on getting a 5D3 next April/May time it simply ticks all the boxes for me and one of the first and important uses will be a wedding evening reception. Exactly the sort of event I thought this camera was built to excel at. Ah well at least time is still on my side, there may be a fix and I can just use what I’ve got now anyway if needs be.

Louis - why not start a thread on the new Canon forum, you may get a bigger ball rolling there? I’m not a pro so don’t have any weigh or real reason to complain that’s business related.

I hope I’m right in thinking that issues big enough to be affecting business raised by pros are addressed by Canon as a priority!

Hey zim, not sure what acronym you mean but everything's cool here! I feel your frustration, a $3000+ camera that is heavily marketed to do something well should indeed do that something well, esp after we waited extra time for the camera to be released. It's a wonderful camera for all other uses. I wouldn't hold my breath for the low light fix. Start considering what YOU can do to work around it. I am hoping that the 6D is Canon's hail mary throw to the end zone to address the 5D3 low light issue.

I think this is a problem we are going to see more often as DSLRs are being designed to be both still picture cameras and video devices. I hate that Canon has taken this path. It's a compromise that drags down the still picture performance while also hampering the video performance. I wonder if this dual use design challenge is partly to blame for the low light issue.

Canon: Just give me a highest possible quality still picture camera with NO video! I don't use it, I don't need it and I'm trying to understand why it even exists on a pro level camera. Photographers are NOT videographers and vice versa. And those that are, typically will buy the tool that is best for each craft. They don't crave one-device fits-all solutions. I've taken some shaky video with my 60D and it sucks. So what if you can use EF lenses on the thing? The DSLR body design is terrible for video so to make it work, tons of money must be spent on all kinds of contraptions to fix the problems that video camcorder (pro and consumer) makers solved years ago with dedicated HD camcorders that still make better video with AF and stereo sound. IMO, adding video to DSLRs was done to sell more cameras to consumers wanting to move up from point and shoot cameras, not answer any urgent need from photographers and it's a real shame. It's a novelty feature that is likely hurting, not helping the primary use of the camera which is taking still images, not video.

bigjonny

I have to add, that i fing the Mk3 IS fully optimised for my still photography needs. I can't think of ANYTHING that is wrong with the camera for stills. It is perfect for me, and shooting weddings I think it's fair to say that I put my cameras through a wide range of conditions and they take quite a punding. No issues for me. Not sure what else you want from a camera, but for me, they do the job PERFECTLY. If they didn't I'd spend more and buy something, even non-canon, that does the job better. I think some folks get stuck in nit-picking the slightest little issue, instead of actually shooting images and learnign to adapt. Compared to cameras of years ago, the current line up ROCKS.

Hey zim, not sure what acronym you mean but everything's cool here! I feel your frustration, a $3000+ camera that is heavily marketed to do something well should indeed do that something well, esp after we waited extra time for the camera to be released. It's a wonderful camera for all other uses. I wouldn't hold my breath for the low light fix. Start considering what YOU can do to work around it. I am hoping that the 6D is Canon's hail mary throw to the end zone to address the 5D3 low light issue.

I think this is a problem we are going to see more often as DSLRs are being designed to be both still picture cameras and video devices. I hate that Canon has taken this path. It's a compromise that drags down the still picture performance while also hampering the video performance. I wonder if this dual use design challenge is partly to blame for the low light issue.

Canon: Just give me a highest possible quality still picture camera with NO video! I don't use it, I don't need it and I'm trying to understand why it even exists on a pro level camera. Photographers are NOT videographers and vice versa. And those that are, typically will buy the tool that is best for each craft. They don't crave one-device fits-all solutions. I've taken some shaky video with my 60D and it sucks. So what if you can use EF lenses on the thing? The DSLR body design is terrible for video so to make it work, tons of money must be spent on all kinds of contraptions to fix the problems that video camcorder (pro and consumer) makers solved years ago with dedicated HD camcorders that still make better video with AF and stereo sound. IMO, adding video to DSLRs was done to sell more cameras to consumers wanting to move up from point and shoot cameras, not answer any urgent need from photographers and it's a real shame. It's a novelty feature that is likely hurting, not helping the primary use of the camera which is taking still images, not video.

totally and completely agree rustmeister...one beer for you! now you only owe me one

I have shot several more weddings since I originally started the post and I still have the problem but have found ways to "live" with it. First, I shoot with the 70-200 f/2.8L IS II, the 50mm 1.2L and the 24mm 1.4L and both the 50mm and 24mm seem benefit (or at least are not negatively affected) from the AF assist. The 50mm just plain sucks in low light though so there isn't much helping it. However, the 70-200 has serious problems with the AF assist beam so I just turn it off when I use it and I almost forget there is a problem. I simply added the AF-assist enable/disable to MY MENU so I can access it quickly when I need to. The flash still works fine I just doesn't use the AF-assist. Just as long as I focus on an area that has some contrast I am fine even if it is really dark. I usually focus on a white shirt collar or another area that has contrast. At 2.8 if you focus on the shirt color the face almost always falls into focus as well. I have also adjusted the setting towards release priority instead of focus priority and I find that really helps me get a shot quickly. It seems that the camera does focus quickly but sometimes it just hesitates a little before it confirms with the red light. Overall I am very happy with the camera I am just so frustrated that the AF assist beam makes focusing a lot worse with some lenses. I am also frustrated that CPS says they have never heard of the problem which means they are lying to me.

Just joined this forum because of this particular discussion. Just bought a 5d3 and used it this weekend at reception. Boy...this thing is bad when using single point af and flash , even in decent light. Had to wait secondsfor the focus confirmation. Lucky I still have my mark2's to take over. Does Canon deliberately cripple their cameras so you will run out and purchase the newest one next year?

Just joined this forum because of this particular discussion. Just bought a 5d3 and used it this weekend at reception. Boy...this thing is bad when using single point af and flash

The fix supposedly is not to wait for the af confirmation, but just press the shutter with release priority because the camera has finished focusing way before it confirms it (see the posts above for the original post of this method).

Does this method work for you? It's interesting to me because that would really be a reason to get the cheaper 6d over the 5d3 for me, esp. if Canon doesn't ack this problem or comes up with a firmware fix.